Following the recent protests on campus, the English Press Club conducted a survey to gauge the needs and desires of BITSians on campus. The survey aimed to capture students’ thoughts on grading, academics, professor-student relationships, evaluations, attendance policy, and campus infrastructure. Responses were elicited from the batches of  2022, 2023, and 2024 (including a German enthusiast). A majority were received from the CSE, ECE, EEE, and ENI departments. 

Regarding grading, 36.4% of the students felt that BITS was too strict. On the other hand, 24% agreed with the former but countered with the advantage of the free CGPA credits provided by PS-1 and PS-2. The rest either supported the grading system or thought it was lenient. 66.2% of the responses shared the sentiment that grading should be standardised across departments, courses, and professors. This could provide students with better opportunities in PS-1 and PS-2, as some students felt that skewed grading may have contributed to them potentially missing out on Study Oriented Projects (SOPs) with professors, Summer Internships (SIs), research internships and spots in foreign universities for higher education. 47.7% of the respondents felt that the grading should be changed such that the average CGPA would be 7 to 8. This would require all courses to award a ‘B-’ or a ‘B’ grade at average marks. It could be difficult to implement as different professors have different requirements. 

Lectures seemed to be an area of concern, as 62.8% of the respondents did not find them sufficiently engaging or adequate to completely understand the concepts taught. This could lead to a lack of interest in the degrees the students pursue. When asked to rate their rapport with the professors, the average rating came out to be 2.54/5. This shows that students could be hesitant in approaching professors. Some respondents noted that their level of interaction with professors varied depending on the course and department. 

Evaluations make up a major portion of the courses, and they come in a variety. Quizzes in tutorials, take-home assignments, group assignments, and practicals (daily, mid-semester and comprehensive) were rated as the preferred mode of evaluation by the students, while quizzes in lectures were opposed by most. The students also expressed concern regarding the schedule for the mid-semester examinations, with over 66% rating it as being hectic or extremely hectic. Some also indicated that the mid-semester syllabus was often finished only a day or two before the exams started. However, the students expressed general satisfaction with the comprehensive examination schedule.

One of the foremost topics on any BITSian’s mind recently has been the fate of the 0% attendance policy. Student sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of the 0% attendance policy, with over three-quarters of respondents strongly supportive of it and less than 5% opposed to it. Most viewed any direct attendance or class participation-based components negatively in lectures and tutorials, but were fairly supportive of them in labs. This was in spite of being fairly supportive of surprise quizzes in tutorials. There was a near-unanimous agreement (93%) that student consent must be given for any attendance policy change.

Attendance-related suggestions received through the survey included only enforcing a minimum attendance requirement for students under academic probation or those with a CGPA below a certain threshold. Some suggestions advocated for increasing practical-based evaluations to increase student engagement. Many students viewed the 0% attendance policy as central to BITS’ unique brand and felt that any change to it could lead to a decline in admissions or other second-order effects.
As BITS is a residential institution where students spend around nine months or more each year, high-quality campus infrastructure is indispensable. To assess general opinion on the same, the last section of the survey focused on campus facilities, including wifi, messes, eateries, the library, the IPC, classrooms, and labs.

There was general satisfaction with the library, IPC, classrooms, and labs, with around 75% of respondents expressing that they are good, satisfactory, or need only minor improvements. There was, however, a broad consensus (around 80%) that the timings of IPC and the library should be extended, with around 55% suggesting extensions until 3-4 AM. 

Students were largely dissatisfied with the mess food, with around 20% of the respondents deeming it “horrible”, and roughly 50% indicating that it could be better. Respondents overwhelmingly backed the replacement of the current mess system with one where they were charged only for the meals they consumed, with 90% in support of the idea. While a slight majority expressed satisfaction with the affordability of the mess, over 40% disagreed. 

The eateries were perceived more positively. Around 56% of respondents reported eating at least once a day, and another 27% at least once a week. ANC was the most frequented eatery, visited by 86% of the respondents, followed by the redis, which were frequented by about two-thirds. 69% of respondents expressed that the eateries were affordable but not regularly, and there remained substantial support (over 60%) for the much-speculated introduction of Domino’s on campus.

Nearly all respondents agreed that the current wifi restrictions were detrimental, since they led to substantial mobile data consumption that could be avoided. Suggestions also encouraged the installation of more routers across campus, expressing frustration with wifi access. The results of this survey captured student opinion on campus in a variety of spheres. The English Press Club hopes that these frustrations are addressed as soon as possible.